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'We are a small country but we punch above our weight'
By PA
Samoa second row Brian Alainu’u’ese insists his side will be fuelled by national pride when they clash with England in Lille on Saturday.
The Pacific Islanders would need an extraordinary set of permutations to unfold in their favour to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals, but they can at least sign off a disappointing Pool D campaign by defeating England for the first time.
“We are a small country but we punch above our weight and I’m really honoured and privileged to be in the situation I am in right now. It’s massive for me, for my family,” Alainu’u’ese said.
“The message from the coaches has been to do your job as best you can, be physical in everything that you do. And with a smile on your face.
“We’ll give everything against England so the supporters can see that we are working hard.
“The best thing is we still have one more chance to show our love for the jersey and our country supporting us.”
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Latest Comments
It is if he thinks he’s got hold of the ball and there is at least one other player between him and the ball carrier, which is why he has to reach around and over their heads. Not a deliberate action for me.
Go to commentsI understand, but England 30 years ago were a set piece focused kick heavy team not big on using backs.
Same as now.
South African sides from any period will have a big bunch of forwards smashing it up and a first five booting everything in their own half.
NZ until recently rarely if ever scrummed for penalties; the scrum is to attack from, broken play, not structured is what we’re after.
Same as now.
These are ways of playing very ingrained into the culture.
If you were in an English club team and were off to Fiji for a game against a club team you’d never heard of and had no footage of, how would you prepare?
For a forward dominated grind or would you assume they will throw the ball about because they are Fijian?
A Fiji way. An English way.
An Australian way depends on who you’ve scraped together that hasn’t been picked off by AFL or NRL, and that changes from generation to generation a lot of the time.
Actually, maybe that is their style. In fact, yes they have a style.
Nevermind. Fuggit I’ve typed it all out now.
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